Chapter 18 #2
"Is it?" Shane pulled out his phone, opened the file Flint had sent.
"Because I've got documentation that says otherwise.
Dates, terms, internal memos. Funny how the Taylors' interest rate is two points higher than anyone else's with similar credit.
Funny how that prepayment penalty just happens to make refinancing impossible. "
Daniel's jaw tightened. "Careful, son. You're treading on dangerous ground."
"Don't call me son." Shane's voice went cold.
"You lost that right the first time you ever beat me.
You had no hope of ever getting it back when you beat me bad enough to send me to the hospital for wanting to leave with April.
When you made Mom lie about why I was there.
When you threatened April and her family.
When you made it your mission to punish them all these years because I fell in love with someone you and Mom didn't approve of. "
Daniel shifted tactics, leaning back in his chair with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Speaking of your mother, she's devastated, you know.
Absolutely heartbroken that you've cut her out of your life.
She's become a laughingstock among her friends—the mother whose son won't even take her calls while they all have grandchildren they can see whenever they want.
Do you have any idea how that feels? How you're destroying her? "
The words hit exactly where they were meant to—straight to the guilt Shane had been carrying for months. He looked away as he remembered his mother's face at Christmas, the way she'd looked at him with such hope before he'd walked away.
But then he thought about April flinching away from him on the couch. About Kevin asking if Shane would stay because he was terrified something would happen to his mother. About Sonny's face when Shane had promised to protect his daughter.
"That's on you," Shane said quietly. "Not me.
Mom has choices. She can leave you. She can choose to respect the woman I love.
She can choose her son over her husband's ego and she knows my brothers and I would protect her from you with everything we have.
" He met his father's eyes. "But she hasn't taken up my offer and I can’t force her to.
And unless she does, unless she's willing to stand up to you and treat April with basic human decency, then yeah—she's not part of my life. "
"You're putting her in an impossible position—"
"No. You are." Shane's voice sharpened. "You're the one who's forcing her to choose. You're the one who's made this family toxic. I'm just refusing to participate anymore."
Daniel's face darkened. "This is about that girl. That trashy wh—"
"Finish that sentence and I walk out of here right now and send everything I've got to the authorities and to the media." Shane's voice was deadly calm. "Try me."
Daniel's mouth snapped shut.
"April Taylor has more integrity in her little finger than you've had in your entire miserable life," Shane continued.
"And her family? The Taylors have built something real in this town.
Something that matters. They show up for people.
They care. They don't use their position to hurt anyone who threatens their ego. "
"How dare you—"
"How dare I?" Shane laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You want to talk about daring? Let's talk about how you've been running this bank, Dad. Let's talk about the pattern of predatory loans you've issued. Funny how they all seem to target families you have personal grudges against."
"That's slander—"
"It's documented fact." Shane held up his phone again.
"Watchdog's been looking into the bank's practices all morning.
We've found fifteen loans with similar structures to the Taylors' and we’re not even done looking.
Fifteen families you've trapped in impossible situations because you wanted to punish them for something. "
Daniel's face had gone pale. "You don’t know what you’re talking about."
"No? I've got dates. Dollar amounts. Internal emails.
And that's just the lending practices." Shane's smile was sharp.
"Should we talk about the property on Canyon Road?
The one you foreclosed on last year? Interesting how the appraisal came in two hundred thousand under market value.
Even more interesting how your shell company bought it three months later for a hundred grand less than that. "
"You can't prove—"
"I can prove all of it. LLC registration documents, property records, bank transactions.
" Shane leaned forward. "You've been using this bank as your personal piggy bank, Dad.
Self-dealing, conflicts of interest you never disclosed to the board, collusion with appraisers—take your pick.
Any one of these things is enough to interest the FDIC and state banking regulators.
All of them together? That's federal prison. "
Heavy silence filled the room. Daniel's hands gripped his armrests, knuckles white.
"What do you want, you son of a bitch?" His voice was strangled.
“Don’t insult Mom like that.”
“How much to shut you up, fucker?”
"I already told you. Call Sonny Taylor and tell him there has been a bank error in his favor and their loan is now paid up. And while you're at it, you're going to review every predatory loan on your books and make them right."
"That's—that's impossible—"
"Then I guess you're going to prison." Shane stood. "Your choice, Dad. Make it quick."
Daniel stared at him for a long moment, something ugly moving behind his eyes. Shane could see him calculating, trying to find an angle, a way to turn this around.
But there wasn't one. They both knew it.
"Fine," Daniel bit out. "I'll call Taylor. Change the terms."
"And the other loans."
"Yes. Fine. The other loans, too."
“And no more of this bullshit going forward.”
“Fine,” Daniel gritted out.
"Good." Shane turned for the door, then paused. "And Dad? If you come after April or her family again—if you so much as look at them wrong—I won't give you a warning next time. I'll just send the files."
He left without waiting for a response, walking back through the lobby with his head high. The sun hit his face as he stepped outside, and Shane took a deep breath of mountain air.
One obstacle down.
April's call came an hour later, while Shane was back at Watchdog.
"Shane?" She sounded breathless. "Daniel Foti just contacted us about the loan."
Shane straightened in his chair. "Yeah?"
"He says there was some sort of bank error. He’s changing the terms. Lowering the interest rate.
Taking off the prepayment penalty." April's voice cracked. "Which doesn’t even matter because once that all goes through the loan’s already paid off with the interest we overpaid on. Did you hear me? It’s paid off. "
"That's good." Shane's chest felt tight. "That's really good, April."
"That thing you mentioned this morning that you had to take care of. Did you—" She stopped. "Shane, what did you do?"
"Just had a conversation with my father. Made some things clear."
"What kind of things?"
Shane thought about the files sitting on his laptop, the monitoring software Flint had installed, the trap they'd set that would spring the moment Daniel stepped out of line again, and probably before that.
"The kind that makes sure he never comes after you or your family again," Shane said. "The kind that means you're safe. That Sonny and Miriam and your sister are safe. That Kevin's safe."
April was quiet for a moment. Then, softly, "Thank you." She sniffled.
"I keep telling you, you don't have to thank me—"
"Yes, I do. Shane, you have no idea what this means. What you've done for us." Her voice was thick with emotion. "I love you. God, I love you so much."
Shane's throat went tight. "I love you too, Sweetness. Always have. Always will."
They talked for a few more minutes—April filling him in on her father's shock, on Miriam’s tears of relief, on the celebration they were planning at Riversong for all their friends and loyal customers. Shane listened, smiling, picturing April's face as she spoke.
When they finally hung up, Shane sat at his desk and opened his laptop. Flint's monitoring software was already running, tracking every transaction that went through Lyons Community Bank. Every loan modification. Every property deal. Every suspicious transfer.
Shane leaned back in his chair, satisfied but not finished.
His father still needed to see justice—and he would.
His father would mess up eventually—men like him always did.
And when he slipped up, when he got greedy and vindictive again, or when the red flags rose as he changed the loans, the feds would catch him.
Shane would be happy to send an "anonymous" tip.
But first, let the old man sweat it and fix the things he broke.
April was safe. The Taylors were free. That was enough.
For now.